from the archive

Magazine

Remembering The Tiananmen Square Massacre 25 Years On

In 1989 the world was a completely different place to what it is now.
There was no social media to fuel protest movements and the discontented met in underground meeting places to discuss the way forward.
The world knew nothing of any discontent unless photo and tv cameras were present to record it.
25 Years ago students in China let those underground meeting places and occupied Tiananmen Square to protest against the Chinese rulers and their strict laws.
On June 4th those rulers had had enough and sent in the army to break up the protests.

Student protesters construct a scaffold at sunset May 29, 1989, which will be used to erect the Goddess of Democracy in Tiananmen Square overnight. The statue is modeled aster the USA's Statue of Liberty. REUTERS/Shunsuke Akatsuka